White Oblivion
by Tom Tomorrow
Summary: Damon and Bonnie have been taken away from the the Otherside in a mass of white light, but what awaits them on the other side will leave them much more vulnerable than ever before. Meanwhile, the Mystic Falls Gang continues to search for their missing comrades.
1. Chapter 1

The formidable wind gusted around the two remaining occupants of the Mystic Falls gang. They had successfully been able to let several of the wrongly deceased back through the gates of life. Including his drinking buddy Alaric, beloved girlfriend Elena, and blood brother Stefan. But something had gone wrong. Liv and Luke ended the spell to soon. Now Damon and Bonnie were stuck on the other side. The same other side that was crumbling down at that very moment. The same other side that was sucking supernatural beings into oblivion. The growing white glared like headlights and shone so brightly it blinded them. Damon had to lift his hand to shield his face. He looked down at Bonnie, who in this moment looked small and fragile, no longer the strong, judge witch she presented herself to be. He frowned slightly, Bonnie hadn't been a witch for a long time. A large tremor shook the ground and the bright light intensified.

"It's coming down isn't it?" Damon asked. He already knew the answer. There would be no last minute save. It was over and they were both going to die with it. Bonnie answered him anyway.

"It is." she murmured dejectedly. She had a look of resignation in her eyes. She had already accepted their ground rocked tremendously once more. "I'm sure there are a million people we'd both rather be with right now, but…" Bonnie trailed off. Her hand wrapped around his and gripped it tightly. In that moment, Damon appreciated everything Bonnie did for them and tried to do for them. In retrospect, he should have been more grateful, but his pride wouldn't allow him to admit it.

"A couple thousand at most." he murmured in a purely Damon fashion. They faced each other for the first time since the turned around to the lights. Their faces had untold apologies written all over them. He could see a ghost of a smile on her face and he gave his own signature trademark smirk.

The ground rocked sharpy to the left and they struggled to stand up right. The light had drowned out much of the forest that previously surrounded them.

"Do you think it will hurt?" Bonnie muttered offhandedly, The wind picked up speed.

"I don't kno-" Damon began and the light consumed them.

8 months later….

Damon found at very quickly that going into the light did not necessarily mean an entrance into peaceful oblivion. Or if that was true. The light that had consumed them was the exception. They'd been swept away from the dark forest of the other side and transported ion a white expanse of nothing. They had sat there chained to a wall that blended into the white background. An utterly boring way to past the time.

The first week Bonnie and Damon appeared in the white expanse, they tried to break out. Unfortunately, fate had worked against them. Damon had lost his vampiric strength and speed. Bonnie lost her ability to switch between realities. And the bonds that held them were way to strong to break out of. They had talked about the Mystic Falls gang, about Jeremy, about Stefan, about Elena… But soon those just became bitter memories of people they'd sacrificed their lives for and they succumed to silence. The only good thing about being dead was that they never became hungry or thirsty, their desire was permanently quenched. The white expanse never darkened, it remained that way for as long as he could remember. Damon let Bonnie contemplate what how come, while he wallowed in his own angst and self pity.

Around a month into their captivity the abuse and violence started. It had been verbal at first. A bunch of unseen voices shouting slurs, insults, and other indecipherable nonsense. It was loud and unbearable, but they could not drown out the noise. They could not even move their arms to cover their ears. It went on endlessly and all eventually turned into streams on nonsense. Bonnie and Damon could not have talked to each other if they'd tried. The voices would always drown them out. So they'd settled for letting their legs lie touching together. It served as a slight comfort for them. To know that there was someone that still existed next to them.

More time passed. He didn't know how much. Damon had lost track of the days they'd went to sleep and had woken up. He sat there looking forward into nothing to another day in the expanse of nothing, when cry of pain erupted from his companion. His sharp blue eyes narrowed on her. She was writhing in pain, tears pouring from her eyes, dark lines shot up through her veins in her arms, up her neck, and into her school. Her eyes turned white and she let out another pained groan. Damon swallowed he couldn't do anything to help her as he was tied to the bonds. He didn't have long to dwell on a way to help her because the black lines appeared on his arms. A wave of pain overtook him and he groaned in agony. His eyes burned with tears as he tried to stop himself from looking weak. Something was chanting over and over in the background. The voices. Unlike the previous endless, indecipherable mess, the voices melded together into one voice. Repeating the same thing over and over. Something about compensating for those who escaped the Otherside. Well crap. A wave of darkness hit as Damon seized uncontrollably. Blood poured from his now, but his tied arms prevented him from doing anything about it. The darkness washed over him like a wave. It looked so welcoming, so Damon did not fight the inevitable unconsciousness that came with it. As he lost consciousness, only one thought remained in his head. Where the hell was his brother?


	2. Chapter 2

8 months later… (Mystic Falls Gang)

Damon and Bonnie's disappearance affected them all. Of course it did. The former witch had been a childhood friend for as long as she could remember. The dark haired vampire had shoehorned in his way into her life only a couple years later. Before this happened she could not imagine a life without them. She should have known better. Living in Mystic Falls seemed to scream danger on every turn. And of course, fate had a grudge against them. Her parents, Jenna, even Jeremy once or twice. Now two more standard fixtures in her life had disappeared. Blinked out of existence with the other side. She did not even get a proper goodbye. None of them did really. Stefan never said goodbye to his brother. Jeremy never said goodbye to his girlfriend. She never said goodbye to her lover… Not to his face anyways. It was a bittersweet ending. They'd gained Alaric but lost Damon. Gained Stefan, but lost Bonnie. This time there was no hope, no back up plan. Or at least that's what the rest of the gang tried to tell her. When Bonnie disappeared, she knew that the chances of them seeing each other again were slim. But it had left so many questions unanswered. Where did they even go? At first, they were in denial. They stood in the cemetery and waited for Bonnie to come back as she always did. She never reappeared. Luke and Oliva, the blonde witch twins, split soon after. Before the gang had a chance to turn their anger onto them. Enzo seemingly hadn't even bothered to stick around when Bonnie was still in existence. No telling where he was now. Jeremy had collapsed to his knees on the ground, moaning in realization, when he realized that Bonnie wasn't coming back. Matt arrived minutes later and realized in horror what had happened. His hand lay on Jeremy's back while his head was bent in sorrow. Stefan struggled to main stoic. Struggled to maintain his composure. Caroline worked fruitlessly to comfort him. She knew that Caroline keeping herself busy was only a coping mechanism for when she was sad. She stared at the spot where Bonnie once stood and something wet slid down her face. Tears. It was ironic. They were standing in a cemetery. Mourning their two friends who had just died. Yet there were no bodies for a funeral. No evidence that they'd even existed. A pair of arms wrapped around her. Alaric. She buried her face into him and continued to weep for their loss… They stayed there all night.

Caroline's mother and Alaric shuffled them all home the next morning as if they were kids instead of the immortal beings most of them were. Stefan had locked himself away in the boarding house. Caroline was a permanent fixture outside his door. Tyler stood near her, trying to wrap his head around what he had done and what he had become. He'd killed Stefan with his own hands and brought misery to many others. Granted it was because the traveler was inside his head, but painful nonetheless. His identity had been stripped from him as well. He was no longer a hybrid… nor a vampire. Just a werewolf with uncontrollable rage. Alaric reinstated his father figure status and watched over Jeremy. It was a mess. Elena collapsed into herself. She would no longer see his face, hear his voice, and feel his lips against hers. It killed her inside. Sheriff Forbes had gone to the college and taken Bonnie's name of the register for all her classes and gathered her belongings. Everyone else was too upset to do so. She took the liberty of taking blood from the blood bank and restocking the fridge, but no one cared. Their friends were gone. That was all that mattered.

A month passed and things were far from normal. The boarding house was filled with more occupants than normal because no one had could bring them to leave. After they determined that no one would try anything stupid, Alaric and Sheriff Forbes took it in their hands to rebuild Mystic Falls after the accident. The traveler's bodies were disguised as Mystic Fall residents who decided not to heed the warning and get out of town. A memorial was held for them. No one came because the real residents had no knowledge of their existence. The Mystic Falls Grill was torn down, the fire had done irrevocable damage. It had been in the works for being rebuilt, but she wasn't sure if it would ever be completed. Matt, unemployed and homeless, had taken refuge in the boarding house. In addition to Bonnie and Damon, he had Vicki to mourn. He would never see her or any other ghost again. Enzo eventually returned as well, wrecked with guilt over abandoning the one friend he had on the other side. Elena was too upset to hold a grudge and allowed him to take a room. Jeremy and herself never intended on leaving. Tyler had locked himself in the basement. Terrified that he'd hurt someone else. Caroline continued to distract herself and had coaxed Stefan out of his room, only for him to go on a rage induced bender on Enzo. Caroline and Elena had to pry them apart, reminding them that if they killed one another, there would be no place to go. The other side was gone. This caused an awkward silence and the men agreed to stay away from each other despite the animosity between them. The blanket of depression stayed solidly in place.

After two months, only Jeremy had returned to school. It became apparent that he would never graduate high school if he didn't attend. Caroline had gone back to live with her mother. She needed to be close to family right now. At this point, she was the only one who really had any left. Matt found himself another job, subsequently moving out of the boarding house. His eyes had long since dried, but his heart felt heavy nonetheless. Every week he would turn up to hang out with Jeremy. The last she saw it wasn't really hanging out, as much as sitting in comfortable silence. It turned out that Enzo didn't stay around for long either. He had raided the liquor cabinet and then took off without a trace to drown his sorrows elsewhere. Elena didn't bother trying to return to college. She had contemplated dropping out, but Alaric was vehemently against it. So she took an extended leave of absence. Stefan and Elena had become closer bonding over the loss of Damon. Not romantically, nothing could be done after she destroyed that relationship by sleeping with his brother. Only on a platonic level. About four months after the tragic event he had come to her in tears, a mess, as he cried that he couldn't remember what his own brother's face looked like. Over one hundred years of brotherhood and he couldn't remember Damon's face. Elena realized she couldn't either, It was blurry. She could no longer see the ways his eyes crinkled or the sparkling mischief of his ice blue eyes, or his dramatic windswept jet-black hair. It killed her inside. That was it. After that, she couldn't look at anyone's tear filled eyes receive anyone's looks of pity. She was going to get them back before they became a distant memory. She was going to bring them back to this reality.

The White Oblivion

Damon blearily blinked his eyes opened and the darkness of unconsciousness was replaced with the lightness of the white expanse of nothing. He tried to shift himself into a sitting position and grabbed his bonds to pull himself up. His jeans squelched against the white bottom, wet with blood. A wave of nausea from the left over pain hit him. He would have thrown up of he had anything in his stomach. He had long since stopped caring about the blood that had congealed itself on his clothing. It wasn't as if he had a spare change. The coppery smell no longer bothered him and it provided additional color to the bland white of the abyss. The pain had been constant since it started some time ago. It was hard to get pinpoint when. It always started with the black marks on the wrists and it always ended with an agonizing pain in their heads. It left marks on their skin. Dark, bruise like spots that hurt when he stared at them too much. They disappeared after an hour or two, but were always present due the process repeating itself. He had no idea if the process was just for pain or if there was some ulterior motive beneath it. He never had time to dwell on the topic for long either way. Because the pain would always started up again. The only upside was that the voices had stopped. They only started when the pain began. Right now it was quiet. The only sound was of his and Bonnie's breathing.

He looked at Bonnie who had her knees brought up to her chest a pool of her own blood around her. She looked at him and smiled half-heartedly. He nodded at her and licked his dry lips and cleared his throat.

"Are you okay?" Damon asked. As soon as he said it he wanted to kick himself. Of course she wasn't okay. None of this was okay.

"Yeah." Bonnie said. A lie, it had to be a lie. "You?"

"Never better." Damon grimaced back. Their conversation was cut abruptly short as the voices started up again. Only this time it was different. Instead of pain, the white abyss began to shift. It felt like they were turning although they could not be sure. His eyes crinkled in confusion. The voices began chanting something over again, it sounded vaguely like he's here. Who's here?

A black shadow appeared in the abyss. At first it had no decipherable shape, but as it merged and shifted it became masculine shaped. This was what the voice was talking about. They had never scene another object after being brought here into the oblivion.

"Who are you gracing us with your presence?" Damon asked sarcastically. He tried to maintain a tough facade, but being chained and tied up had not helped his case.

The black figure smiled revealing along row of gleaming white teeth.

"I am **Amahl Farouk." **the black figure boomed and the voices quieted instantly. "We have a lot to discuss."


	3. Chapter 3

The White Oblivion

The black mass of shadows, now known as Amahl Farouk, slithered closer to the duo in the intimidating manner. As he drifted nearer, Damon had been able to get a better look at their captor. Farouk looked much more terrifying up close, than he had in the distance. The being was easily over seven feet tall and rippled with strength. While he possessed a human form, Amahl Farouk had none of its distinguishing features. There was no face, only a mouth full of sharp gleaming teeth. There was no distinct human skin color, only the tiny, black, slightly metallic scales that covered him from head to toe. There was no hair or fur or any other covering thing his humanoid head. Black, snakelike tendrils moved frantically across his torso and even darker particles vibrated down his arms. Everything Amahl Farouk radiated power and alluded a force not to be reckoned with. Damon doubted they would be discussing puppies and rainbows…

Amahl stooped down to their level and stared at them like he was examining cattle. "An anchor and a vampire…" he tutted in amusement. "It's a shame the original didn't make it over here…" He turned his stony gaze on Damon, but he refused to be intimidated.

"Where are we? Why are we here?" Damon demanded as he rattled off questions. He doubted that this Amahl Farouk guy was another victim that survived the collapsing of the other side. He must have had something to do with this place they were captive in, or at the very east prior knowledge on the white oblivion. Apparently, it was the wrong time to ask.

"**You are in my dominion…"** Amahl growled. "**You are here because you owe me a debt."**

"What debt? This is literally the first time I've seen you in my life?" Damon asked incredulously.

**"You let my dead go back into the world of living." **he spat, his mouth twisted into a grimace, making his teeth look even more menacing. **"You will compensate for this loss."**

"What loss? The other side is gone! Everyone is gone!" Bonnie piped up. Damon glanced over at her. She had straightened up to appear tougher as well. She no longer sat in the curled position but sat up straight as if she still had power behind her name.

**"The other side isn't gone. It is merely on a different plane of existence. I had to stop pathetic beings from like you from letting them escape. When you let the dead return to the living, you alter the reality that was supposed to occur. Stupid fools! I merely rebuilt the other side, on a plane that wouldn't be accessible to earthlings like you." **Amahl seemed to get more angry as he spoke, the black tendrils moved more rapidly around his torso. Damon leaned back as the entity lurched closer and observed what the monster had said. There was a major plot hole in his story though. If this was the new other side then where were the rest of the super natural beings. Then he remembered the stark difference in their disappearance and the others. Silas, Vicki, Katherine, and the others were sucked up in a black vortex, while Bonnie and him were absorbed into the light. Damon shifted away from Amahl, if he had truly created the other side they had no idea what they were dealing with.

Amahl did not notice Damon's lack of participation. **"Then Sheila came to me with a proposition. To get her little granddaughter an arrangement for peace! The same little girl responsible for releasing the occupants of the other side!" **Amahl made noise that vaguely sounded like a snow, but because he had no nose it came out muffled."** She thought she could negotiate with me! Amahl Farouk! The SHADOW KING! My days of kindness are over! But, I let her think… I let her believe the she'd made a deal with me. I waited until she talked with her grandchild. Then I obliterated her."** Farouk turned towards Bonnie and gave her a wide toothed grin, her eyes were burning with unshed tears as she absorbed the fact that yet another family member was dead. Damon wished he could say something, anything. But he was partly the reason her Grams was their in the first place, somehow he doubted that she would take any comfort in whatever he could come up with.

**"When I'd sucked all the others through my vortex, I transported them to a better place. A place of happiness. A place Sheila did not deserve. A place you do not deserve! A place you will never deserve! So you are in my dominion. Where you will remain! Until you pay of your debts and suffer the pain of all those you let through… For them. Alaric, Stefan, Markos, Elena… You will sit here and you will compensate for my loss and only then will I release you back into your plane of existence..**" The Shadow King was feral at this point. He bent down and placed one hand on Bonnie and the other on Damon. His hand was cold. Dread, uncertainty and fear seeped into Damon from it. At first he didn't realize why Farouk was touching them both, but when he realized why it only made the prospect more terrifying.

"**What you have experienced up until now has been a field day. I will make your existence into a living hell! You will tremble when you hear my name. Scream when you see my face. I will take your memories, your dear moments, your life and I will turn it into a nightmare. And when I send you back to earth. Back to your friends! You will be so hurt. So broken. That they will barely recognize you.** ** Then maybe you'll think twice of trying to mess with the other side." ** Surely this all couldn't be a result of letting a couple of people back from the other side. Markos and his travelers weren't even a direct result of their doing. Damon swallowed the lump in his throat. He refused to admit that he was afraid. Afraid of the prospect of everlasting pain. It brought him back to his days with Enzo. Days he would rather forget. He had perked up at the prospect of returning home, Damon did not want to be a vulnerable mess when he saw Elena again. Damon was the strong one. The one who was infallible. He did not want anyone to see him otherwise. So when the Shadow King's hands slid down to their chests, he only looked away and clenched his jaw. The black tendrils that encircled the man's chest were moving up to his arms and leaving his body. Encircling themselves around the duo. The black tendrils felt cold and smoky, like dry ice, as they slithered from Amahl to his own body. They'd felt foreign on his skin, which was only used to the touch of his clothes, his blood, and Bonnie after all this time. After the tendrils had completely left the hulking mass of shadows, Amahl stood up straight and retreated back to where he'd first appeared. Then he evaporated into thin air. Nothing but the white expanse left in his place. That an overwhelming since of dread.

Damon looked at the tendrils that encircled him, writhing all over his torso, resembling snakes having a seizure. Bonnie's did the same, but she was to glassy eyed take any real notice. He glanced at her with a smirk and attempted to lighten the mood a little.

"Shame he had to leave us so soon. He seemed like a charming fellow. He didn't even tell us what these snake thingy's were fo-" Damon was painfully interrupted when the tendrils abruptly stopped moving, opened a hole filled with sharp tiny needles, and burrowed into his chest cavity. Within seconds his entire chest was filled with a fiery, burning pain. It was worse than anything he'd experienced before. Worse than the fire from when they blew themselves up. Worse than being bitten by Klaus, the original hybrid. Worse than the treatments in the 60s with Enzo. The tendrils only dug deeper. Cutting a whole into his shirt and cracking ribs as they dug into his skin. He heard a loud scream, but quickly realized it was himself and Bonnie, who was no doubt suffering the same fate. He fustily grabbed at his chest as he tried to alleviate the pain, but the bonds remained strong as ever. Only allowing the tendrils ample opportunity to bite into his skin. His eyes blurred from the agony and his chest constricted as he struggled to breathe. Blackness seeped into the corners of his eyes and Damon had never prayed for unconsciousness for more in his life. He could feel the foreign body enter him and the smoky substance expand on the inside. Spreading to his organs and other extremities. Damn it! Another scream hit the air. Bonnie. If he was reacting this way as a vampire, Damon could only imagine what she felt like. The tendril entered further. He could hear a crackling noise and smelt smoke drifting up from his body. Why hasn't he blacked out? It was probably a trick of the Shadow Kings. Then blessedly, he slipped into unconsciousness only the Bonnie's screams resounded in his head.

….

The Shadow King smiled as he listened to their terror. He thrived off of their pained screams of agony. And this was only the beginning of their torment. The Shadow King absorbed back into the white wall of the oblivion. He smiled thoughtfully. He'd release them, when they were ready for his real plan. When he was ready to unleash his pain on the rest of humanity. The voices started up again.


	4. Chapter 4

She had kept true to her word. To find a way out for them. Even though she had been discouraged by Caroline and Matt who had been convinced they found piece. Even as Stefan had warily watched, caught between rescuing his brother and upsetting the balance of the universe once again. Even as Alaric, who didn't say anything because of his circumstance of coming back, watched in a concerned matter. She had poured over old spell books, had seeked help from other witches, and had tried desperately to gain connection to the place that Bonnie and Damon had vanished. Unfortunately, the witches had become aware of the death and tragic fates of witches who had helped the Mystic Falls Gang. Had she not been so set on bringing them back to life, Elena would have understood. Luke and Olivia driven out of town. A notorious path of deaths starting with Bonnie's grandmother ending with the death of the witch herself. In fact, the entire Bennett line seemed to have been wiped out in the span of four years. Bonnie's mother, grandmother,… her father. Even her foster brother. The other Bennett witch had split, as soon as she could. A twinge of guilt had entered her thoughts when she had though about that, but it was pushed away with the prospect of bringing them back.

The process had immediately taken longer than expected. Once it had become obvious that no witch would help them. Jeremy and Tyler had combined their hunter qualities and with the help of Alaric had tracked the twin witches who had fled. That had been no easy feat in itself. And after they'd faced the inflicted magical anuyersm, they'd manhandled them back towards Mystic Falls. Where Alaric had used his Original influence, to convince them to help bring Bonnie and Stefan back. Being invincible while the duos were all too mortal had a factor as well. They remained in the Salvatore basement pouring over spell books under the Mystic Falls Gang. The migraines they tried to inflict had no effect on Alaric the Original Vampire. Nevertheless, the process took another two months before they made any real progress. The spell that had the twins had eventually discovered had necessitated six supernatural sacrifices, a full moon, and a bunch of witchy wordsmanship. Elena had been devoted to finding and turning six humans into vampires. Despite Matt's and Caroline's protests about killing innocent people, but she disregarded them. Hadn't it been Caroline who killed Luke for Stefan. Hadn't it been Matt who'd nearly destroyed the school by trying to bring back Vicki. They both hadn't blinked an eye when they'd killed Kol. They just didn't want Elena to have the love of her life back. They didn't want Stefan to have his brother back. Yet Stefan stood back in the shadows radiating disapproval and uncertainty. Elena didn't think twice and went about gathering the necessary sacrifices. She poisoned them all with vervain and shoved them into the cage holding the twins. Now all they had to do was wait for the full moon.

Damon's head felt woozy, he couldn't think straight. He was caught between the lands consciousness and unconsciousness. The land where his body was awake, but refused to cooperate. A coppery smell filled his nostrils. A sticky substance coated what was left his clothes. His vision a mess of white, black and red. But he couldn't concentrate on where anything. He curled on to his side, his hands clutching his head as he struggled to clear his head of the rushing noise in side of it. The action did little to alleviate his pain. Damon groaned and tried to expel what was left of the contents of his stomach from his body to little avail. There was nothing there.

It had taken Damon several more minutes to fully acclimate to his consciousness. When his eyes adjusted to the white expanse again, he would have laughed, if he had the energy too. This was supposedly their death, their everlasting existence, in this eternal hell. How could it hurt like a bitch so much? If this was the afterlife. If this is where they were to spend the rest of their lives. In pain in agony, until a twisted messed up guy saw it fit to release them. They'd let a couple of people out of the Other side, Well, Bonnie had anyway. And only out of the goodness of her heart. He killed himself to save his brother. That had not earned them brownie points with the Shadow King. The King said he'd release them, but he never specified. And experience taught the vampire to never trust the bad guy. So how long were they to sit here on this damned place to suffer?

As Damon willed himself to sit up, he realized that his hands were clutching his head. The bonds were gone. He looked up. They were gone completely not even on the wall. The vampire exercised his new found freedom, but frowned in apprehension. While the bonds were gone, the marks were still extant. They'd burned themselves through his leather jacket, through his t-shirt, and engraved its weird pattern on to his skin. It hadn't healed because of his missing vampirism. It would probably be permanent for the remainder of their stay. Their…. Bonnie!

Damon lurched to his right to anxiously check his witchy friend. He ignored the intense spike of pain as he dragged himself over to examine Bonnie. His feet slipped on the pool of liquid below and he nearly lost his balance in the ten feet it took to get to her. She was still unconscious. After closer observation he realized that her chains disappeared as well. He hands lay clenched at her sides. A gaping hole was burned into her shirt just about two inches right of her heart. He clutched her body and rested her head on his knees and knelt down to see if he was breathing. She was. Of course she was. This was hell. They were already dead. Damon looked at the mark on her chest and vaguely remembered snakelike figures tearing into his body and the pain that was associated with it. The snakes were gone now. He absentmindedly brought his hand to his own chest, the same mark was burrowed into him as well. He remembered it clearly now. The biting into his flesh, the expansion of a being inside of him, the fiery agony sweeping through him. A wave of nausea swept over him again. Focus on Bonnie. Focus on Bonnie Focus on Bonnie. He repeated the mantra over and over in his head. Her breathing was labored. Her expression pained, even in unconsciousness. Like him, she was covered in red slippery blood. He tried futilely to remove some of the blood from her face. Yet Damon only succeeded in mixing his blood with hers. She hadn't stirred at all since, he'd come over. Although he knew she wasn't dead, Damon could not help but be concerned. In the earlier months all he had to do was call her name or kick her. Now he was practically holding her, but no response.

His eyes burned, but he refused to admit they were tears. This was pointless. No matter what he did, no matter what he tried. They were still going to be in this damned hole. Under the control of some guy, who clearly had no intentions of letting them go. Infected with snake like tendrils, with unknown side effects. Listening too abhorrent voices sling slur after slur at them. Knowing that Stefan… that Elena would eventually move on. Destined to suffer endlessly, without death as a reprieve. Anything he tried to do to alleviate the pain, only made it infinitely worse. In millions of ways. He cradled Bonnie's head to his chest, willing her to wake up. This world was excruciatingly horrible and he couldn't bear to imagine what it would be like without her.

Amahl Farouhk.

He could sense the other reality trying to pull his captors out of the white expanse. The Shadow King was tempted to intervene, after all he could he easily enjoy another two months in pain and become more rejuvenated in the process. After contemplation, he reconsidered. It would fun to see the other reality deal with his captors. Especially if they pulled them out with the lonkeroitas in them. The lonkeroita were already working away at them, if they were pulled out now it would only make matters worse. He grinned wickedly. It was funny how the universe tended to work in his favour.


	5. Chapter 5

When the full moon had come out, bright but foreboding, Alaric had marched the twin witches up to the now abandoned Mikaelson mansion where the spell was necessitated to take place. He could hear their weak protests and the fear that filled their voices at the prospect of having to upset the balance of nature. There was a reason that they had been reluctant to help the Mystic Falls Gang in the first place, some things just had to be left alone. The twins knew the consequences would be dire and would bring potential havoc on to the town, if not the country. But Elena and her followers had this mentality. A mentality that nothing was permanent and death was just an obstacle. It did not matter if it included killing hundreds of vampires in trade for one life. The same one that died for a cure that Elena did not take. Or tearing through an entire family line for frivolous pursuits. And now the youngest Bennett witch was dead as well. Or putting two witches on the run from their own coven, when forced against their will to perform a spell that killed countless others. Not even thinking of the other supernaturals that wanted life, but only selfishly of their own. Yet when Caroline killed Luke and Liv nearly died trying to save him and the others, they were turned into the bad guys. Driven back into town to do it again. Alaric felt a twinge of guilt when he realized they had a right to be fearful, but he also wanted his drinking buddy back. Damon went through all this trouble to get him back and his brother, it would be to some avail.

Elena, Caroline, and Stefan had smuggled the supernatural sacrifices in the night. Tyler could not be there due to his renewed werewolf status on a full moon and Jeremy, despite wanting desperately to see his girlfriend again, was in charge of Tyler during his change. Despite being only three vampires, the six newly turned ones had been no match for the older, stronger supernatural beings. The humans had varied drastically in looks, age, and history due to Elena's hurriedness. Mystic Falls being a small town made anyone who went missing very noticeable. So when Elena did not go after convicts or hitchhikers or people who would not be missed, they ended up getting people who were very involved in the community. People who had families they would not say goodbye to. Jobs they would not return too. Friends that would have no chance to continue the memories they had shared. The six sacrifices would be taking Bonnie's and Damon's place in the plane of existence they were on. Stefan was willing to look the other way because it was his brother.

When they had gotten all the parts of the ritual into place with the full moon high in the air, the witch twins reluctantly began the spell. The Mystic Falls gang remained threateningly dispersed throughout the room in case they tried to escape. The candles Jeremy had lit, flickered dangerously as the chants progressed and their voices grew louder. It got to the point that they were practically shouting and the flames from the candles had singed the ceilings. But then it stopped. The twins had abruptly stopped speaking. The candles had lowered. The wind had died down. The lights had brightened once more. But the sacrifices were still there. Looking as confused and petrified as ever. Luke and Olivia opened their eyes and looked around at the Mystic Falls Gang.

"The spell is complete." Olivia muttered. Her brother nodded in agreement. But one look on the gang's incredulous faces showed that they did not believe for a second that the spell had done a thing. After all the six newborn vampires were still there and Bonnie and Damon were not. Elena made a threatening move towards them, but Stefan stopped her. Before they jumped to conclusions it would be best to get an explanation first. Otherwise they might never get an answer

"What do you mean the spell is complete? Where the hell is Damon if the spell is complete?" Elena growled, her fangs were bared and the veins under her eyes straining. The witch only shrugged.

"We did the spell you gave to us. It's not our fault if y-" Olivia stopped in mid sentence, interrupted by something wet trickling down the side of her face. She cautiously reached up and touched the liquid and then held her hand in front of her face. The liquid running down her hand was wet, shiny, and red. It was blood. She was bleeding from her ears. No sooner than she made this realization, the sticky substance began to pour at a rapid rate from her nose and then her mouth. The room spun around her and the faces of the others blurred. Stumbling forward and losing her balance, Olivia fell to her knees and began to clutch her head in an effort to contain the nausea and pain sweeping over her.

Stefan and the others were not expecting it when the eight chosen individuals began bleeding out on the floor. He knew that the six vampire sacrifices were undoubtedly going to die, but when the twins collapsed along with them… Stefan lurched into action. He bit his wrist, exposing his vampire blood and rushed over to heal the twins. But it was futile. They were losing blood much faster, than he was giving it to them. The blood that did enter their system had no effect. Probably because whatever was making them bleed was magic related and not caused by a direct physical injury. Stefan was forced to leave them on the floor writhing in pools of their own blood. There was nothing they could do. The twins had performed the spell and now the magic was taking it out on them. Stefan staggered back to his previous position, both of the twin's blood and now his own covered his shirt. Caroline flashed over to where he was standing and they shared a knowing look, they were about to watch eight innocent people die and there was nothing that could be done about it. He hoped it would be damn well worth it.

Damon's POV

He must have dozed off because the next time he opened his eyes the sun was just barely rising. The sky was still pink and provided a background to the trees that rose around them. Wait trees? Damon almost choked in disbelief. The white expanse was gone. He forced himself into a sitting position against a tree he now leaned on, carefully readjusted Bonnie who still lay unconscious in his arms. A distant tickle in the back of his throat made him want to clear it. Something was familiar about the feeling and when his stomach began to rumble, he recognized it. Hunger. Damon stifled the feeling and scanned his surroundings and tried to get a better idea of where he was, but the sudden influx of color was to much for him. Almost a year of spending time and looking at nothing but white had effected his vision. He did not want to close his eyes, in fear of never waking up again, so instead he stood shakily to his feet, moving Bonnie to the floor beside him.

The slight movement woke Bonnie up with a gasp. She shot to her feet, but then stumbled sharply to the left because Bonnie didn't have full control of her equilibrium. Damon reached out to steady her, but she flinched away. Only when her vision and mind cleared, did she let Damon come close to her.

"S-so we're out?" she asked shakily. Her hand was pressed against her temple as she tried to get rid of the headache she'd woken up with.

"To be honest, I have no idea. I woke up here like you did." He coughed as he moved to support her. "Come on. We'll walk north." She wrapped her arm around his shoulder.

"How do you know we're walking north?" Bonnie asked skeptically.

"Something about the moss on the other side of the rock. Didn't you go to school?" he teased. Another twinge in his stomach. He hoped they truly were out of the oblivion and headed to civilization, because he was hungry and was no other person that could be a meal. Accept for- His thoughts were interrupted by a giggle.

"You're laughing?" Damon raised an eyebrow. He couldn't see anything to be laughing about.

"It's just so funny. WE must look like nut jobs. Or serial killers. We're covered in blood and our clothes are in shreds. Even if we did find somebody-" She burst into laughter. Damon frowned he couldn't tell if there was something to be laughing about or if she was just being delirious. "I mean Caroline would freak-" Bonnie abruptly stopped. It had been awhile since any of them spoke of those that they had left behind. It didn't bring pleasant memories. She sobered almost instantly and her eyes teared up. Damon was about to turn away to hide his tears from her. He was supposed to be the strong one. The tough one. But he figured they had both already seen each other at their most vulnerable point. A little tears would not change anything. So they both cried. They held each other tighter. And with their jaws set, stumbled further north, in hope of finding civilization.


End file.
